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Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., on Tuesday called for the Trump administration to launch a new U.S. military deterrence initiative in the Asia-Pacific region, similar to what is already being done in Europe, as a counterweight to China. The administration could chart a new course with an initiative that includes new military funding to realign U.S. forces in the region, increase combat power, improve bases and add more exercises, McCain said during a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing. "I believe there is strong merit for an Asia-Pacific stability initiative which is similar to the European deterrence initiative we've pursued over the...

Aaron Hernandez may have murdered Odin Lloyd to keep his own bisexuality a secret, according a report Friday that also said one of his suicide notes was addressed to a gay jailhouse lover. “One of the notes left by Hernandez was to his prison boyfriend, who is now on 24/7 suicide watch, multiple law enforcement sources confirm,” Newsweek reported. Hernandez’s sexuality had also played a role in the murder for which the disgraced Patriot tight end was serving life without parole in the Souza Baranowski Correctional Center, the report said. Hernandez may have fatally shot his old pal, Odin Lloyd,...

The Tennessee teacher charged with abducting his 15-year-old student skipped town with Cialis pills and went shopping for KY Jelly and chocolate while on the lam for more than a month, according to new court papers. Tad Cummins, 50, filled a prescription for Cialis at a Columbia, Tenn., pharmacy on March 10 — three days before allegedly blowing town with student Elizabeth Thomas, the federal complaint filed Thursday says. His wife, Jill, told investigators that he was prescribed the drug, which treats erectile dysfunction and prolongs sexual performance. Three days later, the pair was spotted at a Walmart in Guymon,...

Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., is praising FBI Director James Comey for his "independence" while investigating politicians on both sides of the political spectrum and for not kowtowing to political pressure during the 2016 presidential campaign. In a short piece published Thursday honoring him as part of the Time 100 Most Influential People list, the Arizona Republican referred to Comey's "integrity" and argued that it "never wavered" over the past year, despite the presidential campaign that made him a household name. "Integrity is a word that doesn't get used a lot in Washington anymore. But that is the quality that has...

WASHINGTON – Former Rep. Aaron Schock, R-Ill., on Thursday asked a judge in Springfield to dismiss his federal corruption charges, asserting the prosecutor crossed a line by violating separation of power provisions in the Constitution. “The wide-ranging Indictment against Mr. Schock repeatedly trespasses on land the Constitution reserves for Congress. The Indictment repeatedly relies on House rules or standards that were not designed to be the basis for criminal charges and are themselves ambiguous,” Schock’s motion to dismiss argues. Moreover, the motion states: “The relevant rules are simply not as represented in the Indictment; and are, in fact, inherently ambiguous...

Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) is the current darling of the left — which tells you just how crazy Democrats have gotten. CNNPolitics reports, accurately, Waters is “having a moment” with the biggest online buzz since Bernie Sanders. Elle dubbed her “The Millennials’ Political Rock Star.” Yet she’s every bit the over-the-top lefty she’s been for decades. Indeed, she’s winning all the praise by calling for President Trump’s impeachment. On the record, at least 25 times. Last week, she told the Los Angeles Press Club, “I want this president impeached.” She spent the weekend leading a crowd of activists in an...

en. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) said President Donald Trump has "a number of flaws" but she supports many of his policies. When asked about Trump's comments about women and the disabled, she said, "Would you say they're character flaws? I think it's more than character flaws. Well, and I think that we have a president that has a number of flaws," she said at a Tuesday town hall meeting in Iowa, according to KTIV in Wall Lake, Iowa. She then said she and the president share the same opinions on a number of policy issues. "I think I support a majority...

Vice President Joe Biden seriously considered throwing his hat in the ring of the 2016 presidential campaign, but ultimately decided not to after the death of his son, Beau Biden, from brain cancer in May 2015. In the new book “Shattered: Inside Hillary Clinton’s Doomed Campaign” by Jonathan Allen and Amie Parnes (Crown, out now), the authors reveal that before Beau got sick, the Biden family was focused on the son’s future political prospects. Modal Trigger “The elder Biden didn’t want to interfere with his son’s political ascent and worried that his own presidential bid would make it harder for...

<p>WASHINGTON — The White House declined Monday to detail President Trump's future strategy toward North Korea, even as its government threatened more missile tests in the near future.</p> <p>"I think that the action that he took in Syria shows that when appropriate this president will take decisive action," White House spokesman Sean Spicer said, referring to the missile strike that followed Syrian use of chemical weapons against anti-government rebels.</p>

Sen. Jeff Flake encountered a raucous audience at a town hall meeting in Mesa, Arizona, on Thursday night. Constituents peppered the Republican lawmaker with questions about President Donald Trump's actions in office, and his broader agenda on climate change, the president's taxes, the Supreme Court and Planned Parenthood. Much like other GOP town halls held since Trump assumed the Oval Office, attendees railed against Flake, many of whom accused him of being a rubber stamp for Trump. Flake, like Reps. Jason Chaffetz, Mike Coffman, and Sen. Mitch McConnell before him, attempted to answer the audience's concerns, though most explanations drew...

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) is calling for "immediate" debate over President Trump's use of force following reported "saber-rattling" on North Korea. “Every day, the President gives Congress reason to return and debate the use of force. The President’s escalation in Syria and his saber-rattling on North Korea demand serious and immediate Congressional scrutiny," Pelosi said in a statement Thursday. “Speaker [Paul] Ryan [R-Wis.] must call Congress back into session for classified briefings and debate. Congress must do its duty and honor our responsibility to the Constitution," she added. Pelosi urged Ryan last week to call Congress back into...

Like his predecessors, Donald J Trump is trying to figure out how to handle North Korea’s provocations – the country may be preparing for its sixth nuclear test – and how to compel China to help constrain Pyongyang’s nuclear ambitions. On Sunday, the Pentagon deployed a strike group moving towards the western Pacific, because “it is prudent” to have the ships near North Korea, said national security adviser HR McMaster. In response, on Tuesday North Korea’s state media threatened that they could “hit the US first”, adding that “pre-emptive strikes are not the exclusive right of the United States”. By...

Stephen F. Cohen, professor emeritus of Russian studies at New York University and Princeton, spoke Thursday evening with Fox News' Tucker Carlson about the latest shoes to drop in the investigations into the Trump campaign's possible ties to Russia. The Wall Street Journal reported late Thursday that Michael Flynn, President Trump's former national security advisor, has told the FBI and congressional investigators that he is willing to be interviewed in exchange for a grant of immunity from prosecution -- not a particularly good sign for the Trump White House. Cohen, one of the country's foremost experts on Russia, has been...

President Trump has offered a lot of bluster on North Korea. As he wrote on Tuesday morning, “I explained to the President of China that a trade deal with the U.S. will be far better for them if they solve the North Korean problem!” The public lobbying comes on the heels of what Trump described as “in-depth discussions about North Korea’s serious nuclear problems and how to respond to them” during last week’s summit meeting. “North Korea is looking for trouble. If China decides to help, that would be great. If not, we will solve the problem without them! U.S.A.”...

Credit where due: though Fox News host Tucker Carlson may not have been the clear winner in last night’s debate with Rep. Seth Moulton (D-MA) over #TrumpRussia conspiracy theories, he does deserve a trophy for participating in the very discussion in which many other Americans are also currently engaged. Did Trump bomb Syria purely due to Bashar al-Assad’s alleged use chemical weapons? Or was this a more cynical move to distance this administration from conspiratorial ties to Putin’s regime (as was suggested by Moulton.) In a 12-minute segment on last night’s Tucker Carlson Tonight, Rep. Moulton floated the notion that...

Have MSNBC hosts Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski come closer to confirming they’re a couple? They’ve revealed in a new interview that their pets at home are very familiar. The “Morning Joe” pair’s been coy about any off-screen romance in the past. Page Six exclusively reported last year that Mika quietly divorced after 23 years of marriage, and that they’re “widely rumored to be romantically involved — and there’s plenty of on-air chemistry for all to see.” But she told GQ last year in a profile, “I really don’t want to talk about my personal life.” In a new interview...

Throughout the campaign and the early days of his presidency, President Trump garnered near lockstep support from a number of alt-right leaders and conservative media members. While there were moments of wavering — such as when Trump muddled his positions on immigration and Obamacare — they mostly remained on his side. Mike Cernovich, the alt-right conspiracy theorist and author praised by Donald Trump Jr. on Tuesday, spent much of Thursday night live streaming and tweeting against the military action and those in favor of it: After Trump approved missile strikes in Syria on Thursday night, that opinion changed. In sharp...

MSNBC’s Brian Williams came under fire Friday for coming up with another broadcast “beauty” during his coverage of the US strike on Syria. Williams – who was famously bounced from his NBC gig for fabricating stories – was apparently mesmerized by the sight of cruise missiles blazing through the night sky. “We see these beautiful pictures at night from the decks of these two UN Navy vessels in the eastern Mediterranean,” Williams told his viewers on “The 11th Hour.” “I am tempted to quote the great Leonard Cohen: ‘I am guided by the beauty of our weapons,’” he added. “They...

Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., bemoaned the state of the Senate on Thursday as Majority Leader Mitch McConnell moved to change the chamber’s rules in order to break through the Democratic filibuster of Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch with a simple majority. Earlier in the day, Republicans failed to reach the 60-vote supermajority needed to end debate and proceed to a vote. “It’s a bad day for democracy,” McCain said before entering the Senate chamber, where he later voted with fellow Republicans to change the rules. “I think it’s a terrible mistake that we will regret for many, many years to...

Mayor Virgil Bernero (D) of Lansing, Michigan debated Tucker Carlson on the legitimacy of Attorney General Jeff Sessions' plan to withhold federal funds from cities that won't enforce federal immigration law. Carlson reported that despite Sessions' warnings, Lansing voted to become a sanctuary city, and he asked Bernero when it was OK to defy any federal law in such a way. Bernero said that it is never proper to do so, and added that his executive order on the topic abides by federal law. He invited Sessions and President Trump to advise him anytime on how to increase public safety...